Geraldine Laybourne (born May 19, 1947) was president of Nickelodeon from 1984 to 1996, after which she left to become president of Disney-ABC Cable Networks (including the Disney Channel). She co-founded Oxygen, which was launched on 2000, and was the CEO of the channel until the NBCUniversal sale. During her tenure at Nickelodeon, the network became the top-rated 24-hour cable programming service and won many awards.
In a 1999 interview, the original founder of Nickelodeon (Dr. Vivian Horner) credited Laybourne with making Nickelodeon such a success. She said "[Laybourne] really understands what kids want: Her Nickelodeon has an attitude, like Angelica from Rugrats. I appreciate it, but I like softer programming myself. I'm a bit old-fashioned. I'm not sure if I could have made Nickelodeon such a big hit."
Up until her departure in 1996, Nickelodeon Magazine regularly featured short interviews with her, under the heading Ask the Boss Lady.
Ask the Boss Lady columns[]
